Mr. Denby to Mr. Blaine.
Peking, December 4, 1891. (Received January 8, 1892.)
Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 1434, of November 28, giving an account of the insurrection in Mongolia, I have but little information to add thereto. An engagement between the imperial troops and the rebels is reported, in which the rebels lost 600 men killed and the Government only one man. But this report has not been verified and is not believed here. The Government does not seem to be alarmed at the situation, and makes light of it.
Nothing definite will be known until three weeks have elapsed. The rebels are said to have designated a young Mongol prince as the new Emperor, The inscriptions on their banners proclaim death to foreigners and missionaries, and the overthrow of the existing dynasty. Should the rebels be successful in a general engagement it is thought that they would have great accessions of numbers, and would march on Peking. The condition of the foreigners at Peking would then be dangerous. The Methodist Episcopal mission here propose to send the school children away. I advised against the step as tending to increase the prevailing excitement, and being evidently premature. I requested the admiral to send a ship to Tientsin. He has ordered [Page 73] the Palos thither, but it is doubtful whether she can get there on account of ice. It is reported that a Japanese man-of-war had to stop at Taku. The existing insurrection has tended to unite more closely the foreigners and the rulers of China. While China has not done its full duty in the way of affording protection to foreigners, still there is reason to entertain a better founded hope of securing protection from the Government than from the secret societies and armed insurrectionists whose watchwords are the destruction of native Christians and foreigners, as well as the overthrow of the existing dynasty. Besides, in spite of sensational newspaper reports to the contrary, no foreign representative here ever thought of advising that war be made on China. The only object of our joint appeal to our various governments was to bring to bear on China a concerted influence which might determine her to adopt more stringent measures to prevent riots. I have no doubt that this action on the part of the foreign representatives did have a powerful effect.
I have, etc.,